Improve Your Memory Every Day (2015)
Memory Tasks
The purpose of this section is to help you test the new memory skills you have acquired. There are a variety of tasks that cover different sorts of memory and require different approaches. After describing each task, I have set out some ways in which you might attempt it. These are only suggestions. There is no right way to memorize, there is only the right way for you. Any method that works for you, no matter how eccentric it might seem to others, is OK because it works. In memory, results are all that count. Anything that helps you to attain 100 per cent accuracy and to retain important information over long periods of time, is a good method.
The tasks in this section are designed to challenge your new-found memory skills in numerous ways. There is no need to do them all in one go (in fact, such a rush of enthusiasm would do you very little good). Instead, you should take a measured approach and work at one task until you are really happy that you have learned the lessons it has to teach. Don’t be put off if the knowledge imparted by a particular task is not especially useful to you. The tests are there to train you in memory methods which, eventually, you will be able to apply to tasks that are of specific importance to your own life. Don’t try to memorize too quickly. Accuracy is the vital thing and speed will come in good time.
Don’t try to memorize too quickly.
When you are confident in your new abilities go to the Mammoth Memory Test to see just how well your memory works.
Never try to learn too much at once.
LONG-TERM MEMORY TASK
The alphabet backwards
TIME: 3 minutes LEVEL: Easy
All you have to do is memorize the alphabet backwards. You may well have done this already when you were a kid, but can you do it right now without thinking? Probably not. Three minutes from now you’ll be able to do it again.
Instructions
1 Start by looking at the alphabet below in this unfamiliar guise.
2 Set the whole thing to a well-known tune, such as Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. If the tune doesn’t quite fit the letters, that’s a good thing because the glitch will make the whole task even more memorable.
Retest: Repeat the exercise later in the day and rehearse it daily for a week, then include it in your regular review sessions.
Remember this!
Divide and conquer. Don’t try to learn the whole thing at one go, but break it into chunks. Keep repeating the song and add another chunk after every couple of repetitions. You should have the whole thing off pat in about fifteen minutes.
LONG-TERM MEMORY TASK
The NATO phonetic alphabet
TIME: 10 minutes LEVEL: Easy
The armed forces, police, emergency services, air traffic control and numerous other bodies use the phonetic alphabet and numbers when spelling things out over the airwaves. It is international, whether you are talking to someone in India, Italy, Japan or New Jersey, it is always understood. This makes it quite a useful thing to learn.
0 Zero
1 Wun
2 Too
3 Three
4 Fower
5 Fife
6 Six
7 Seven
8 Ait
9 Niner
. Decimal
. stop
Instructions
Here we’ll use a bit of repetition, a bit of ‘divide and conquer’, and a kinaesthetic method.
1 Split the alphabet into five chunks of four letters (you can learn the numbers, which are very easy, separately) Yankee and Zulu, of course, are left as a group of two.
2 Now, as you repeat them to yourself, write them down each time. Alternatively, you could write them down just once and tap each word with a pencil as you say it, but I would recommend the extra effort of writing them during each repetition.
3 Now, introduce a bit of rhythm into your recitation - try slow, slow, quick, quick, slow.
4 Finally, when you are confident that you have it all well memorized, get someone to test you.
Retest: Revise daily for a week, and then from time to time.
A Alpha
B Bravo
C Charlie
D Delta
E Echo
F Foxtrot
G Golf
H Hotel
I India
J Juliet
K Kilo
L Lima
M Mike
N November
O Oscar
P Papa
Q Quebec
R Romeo
S Sierra
T Tango
U Uniform
V Victor
W Whisky
X X-ray
Y Yankee
Z Zulu
LONG-TERM MEMORY TASK
Awkward spellings
TIME: 20 minutes LEVEL: Easy
When I taught my daughter to spell, I didn’t know as much about memory as I do now, and so I used the repetition method. Result? Each week she got top marks in the spelling test but a week later she’d forgotten the previous week’s lesson completely. There are much better ways to learn to spell. Here are some suggestions on how to learn and remember correct spellings, and a list of words to learn.
Try mnemonics. For example, ‘Never Eat Cake Eat Salmon Sandwiches And Remain Young’ will give you the spelling of NECESSARY.
I found this method in Roald Dahl’s book Matilda. If you want to learn RECEIVE you learn it as: Mrs R, Mrs E, Mrs CEI, Mrs V, Mrs E.
Divide and Conquer. If you want to learn CONSCIENTIOUS, you can split it into CON, SCI, ENT, IOUS.
Try splitting words into bits that make some sort of bizarre sense. I had trouble with TOMORROW until I memorized it as TOM OR ROW.
Say words to yourself exactly as they are spelled. If you want to learn RECEIPT, learn to say it as REKEP-IT. Learn ANCIENT by calling it AN-KEE-ENT. (OK, theoretically you might end up putting a K in ancient, but you’re much brighter than that, aren’t you?)
Below you will find a list of the most commonly misspelled words. Go through it and cross off the ones (there will probably be many) that you can spell with confidence. Then use the methods outlined above to learn the others.
A
aardvark
abbreviate
abscond
absorbent
abundant
abysmal
academy
accappella
acceptable
acceptably
acceptance
accessible
accidentally
accommodate
acoustic
acquiesce
acquit
across
acrylic
actor
actually
adequate
adhesive
adieu
adjacency
adversary
aerator
aerial
aesthetic
afterwards
against
aggravate
aggressive
agitate
aisle
alchemy
algae
align
allege
allegiance
allowance
almond
already
amateur
ambidextrous
amoeba
amphibian
amphitheatre
ancestor
ancillary
anecdote
aneurysm
annihilate
anniversary
annoyance
annoyed
anomalous
anomaly
anonymous
antecedent
anxiety
anxious
apart
apartheid
apathetic
apologize
apostrophe
apparatus
appliqué
armament
armistice
asbestos
asphalt
assimilate
asterisk
asthma
asymmetric
aurora
austere
Australia
autumn
auxiliary
B
bankruptcy
banquet
bargain
baroque
bayonet
bayou
bazaar
beautiful
because
behaviour
beige
believe
benefit
beret
bestiary
biased
bicycle
biscuit
bivouac
bizarre
blossom
bouquet
bourgeoisie
boutique
boycott
broccoli
brochure
brogue
bruise
buoy
buoyant
bureau
bureaucratic
business
C
cabinet
Caesar
café
caffeine
calf
callous
callus
calves
camouflage
campaign
candidate
canoe
cantaloupe
captain
captor
cartilage
cataclysm
category
caterpillar
cauliflower
cavern
cease
celebration
cello
cemetery
chameleon
champagne
chandelier
charisma
chartreuse
chassis
chimney
chisel
chocolate
choir
cholera
chorale
choreograph
chronicle
chronological
chutzpah
circuit
circumstance
cliché
coalesce
coercion
cognac
cognizant
cohabiting
coiffure
collaboration
colleague
collegiate
cologne
commitment
compass
concatenate
conceit
connotation
conquer
conscious
consider
consistent
corduroy
correlate
corrugated
coup
couple
courage
course
courteous
coyote
creator
creche
creosote
cretaceous
critique
crocodile
croquet
crotch
crucifixion
cuckoo
cuisine
cul-de-sac
culottes
cupboard
curmudgeon
curriculum
czar
D
daiquiri
Dalmatian
damn
dearth
debris
debut
definable
delimiter
dependency
description
desiccation
desirable
diamond
diarrhoea
dilate
dilemma
diphtheria
diphthong
dirigible
disappointed
disciple
disgusting
dissection
dissemination
dissertation
dissipate
double
doubly
doubt
dropping
drought
dumb
dungeon
dying
E
easy
eavesdrop
ecstasy
editing
elementary
embankment
encompass
endeavour
endure
ensued
enthusiastic
entrance
entrepreneur
estuary
etiquette
eulogy
eunuch
euphoric
euthanasia
exaggerate
excellent
excerpt
excitement
explanation
extension
extraordinary
F
façade
facetious
farce
fascinate
fasten
fastened
feasible
February
fertile
feud
flood
flotation
fluorescent
forehead
foreign
forfeit
forty
fuchsia
fulfil
funeral
futile
G
gaiety
gauge
geisha
genealogy
generally
genuine
geyser
ghastly
ghost
ghoul
gingham
glycerine
gourd
government
governor
grammar
granary
grandiose
guerrilla
guess
guillotine
guitar
gymnast
H
haemorrhage
hallelujah
heifer
height
heinous
heuristic
hiatus
hierarchy
history
homage
horrible
hors d’oeuvre
hydraulics
hygienic
hymn
I
icicle
idiosyncrasy
illegal
illegitimate
illustrate
imbalance
immediately
immense
impressed
impugn
inception
inheritance
instantiation
instrument
intent
interfere
interference
interpret
interpretation
interrupt
intrigue
intuitive
invocation
invoke
isthmus
J
jagged
jalousie
jealous
jealousy
jeopardize
jewel
journal
journey
K
kaleidoscope
kayak
ketchup
khaki
kibbutz
kiosk
knife
knowledge
knowledgeable
L
label
labyrinth
lacquer
laid
lasagne
legionnaire
legitimacy
legitimate
leisure
lenient
light
lightning
likelihood
limousine
lingerie
liquor
literature
llama
luau
luggage
luscious
M
maelstrom
maestro
maintain
maintenance
malice
malicious
mannequin
manoeuvre
marquee
marriage
marshmallow
martyr
masochist
matinee
mausoleum
mayonnaise
medieval
millennium
miniature
minuscule
miscellaneous
mischievous
missile
misspell
moccasin
months
morgue
mortgage
mosquito
muscle
myrrh
mystic
mystique
N
naive
naivety
nasturtium
nauseous
necessarily
necessary
neighbour
neither
neural
niche
night
ninety
noticeable
noxious
nuance
nuisance
nutritious
nymph
O
obelisk
obey
oblique
occasion
occurred
odyssey
officially
often
omelette
onomatopoeia
opaque
opinion
opportunity
oracle
orang-utan
orchestrate
orchid
oregano
oscillate
oscilloscope
ostrich
ovation
overwhelm
P
pageant
paradigm
parallel
parameter
paraphernalia
parliament
parquet
participate
peace
peignoir
penitentiary
people
perform
perhaps
perimeter
persistence
persistent
pertain
pertinent
pewter
phlegm
piedmont
plagiarism
plagiarize
plague
plaid
plaque
pollinate
possession
postpone
potpourri
precede
precious
precursor
Presbyterian
presence
prestigious
primitive
privilege
prolix
pronunciation
proprietary
proprietor
protein
protocol
pseudonym
ptarmigan
pterodactyl
pumpkin
pursue
pylon
Pyrrhic
Q
quadruple
questionnaire
queue
quiche
R
rabbit
radius
rapport
raspberry
rather
realm
receipt
receive
recipe
recommend
reconnaissance
recurrence
regardless
rehearsal
reindeer
relief
religion
remain
renaissance
rendezvous
repertoire
replenish
reservoir
responsibility
responsible
rhythm
ricochet
riddled
ridiculous
S
saboteur
saccharin
safety
salmon
sandwich
satellite
savvy
scaffolding
scenario
schizophrenic
scissors
scourge
scythe
segue
seismograph
seizure
sense
sensible
separate
sepulchral
sergeant
serious
severe
sherbet
should
shoulder
siege
sienna
sleuth
solder
subpoena
subtle
successfully
supplement
suppress
surgeon
suspicion
sword
syllable
syllabus
synagogue
synonymous
syringe
T
tarpaulin
technician
technique
tedious
temporary
temptation
tendency
terrain
terrible
terrific
Teutonic
their
theorem
theory
therapeutic
there
thereby
thief
thieves
thirtieth
thistle
thought
threshold
tomato
tomatoes
tongue
torque
tortellini
tortoise
toucan
tournament
transcend
transition
transmission
trauma
triathlon
tries
trigonometric
trinket
troubadour
trudging
true
truly
U
unanimous
unduly
usability
useful
V
vacuum
variant
variation
vaudeville
vegetarian
vehement
vehicle
veterinarian
vigilante
vignette
vinaigrette
vinegar
vinyl
W
weasel
weird
wherever
whisper
whistle
wholly
wildebeest
withdrawal
would
wrestle
writable
Y
yacht
yeoman
Z
zealot
zephyr
zinc
zucchini
VISUAL MEMORY TASK
Playing cards
TIME: 5 mins LEVEL: Easy
Memorizing playing cards is one of those things that trick memorizers do. They even have championships to see who can memorize the most cards in the shortest time. So why is it included here? Well, performed in strict moderation, it is an exercise that will help strengthen your visual memory
Instructions
Opposite you’ll see pictures of 25 cards in five rows of five. First, learn the cards in the order given (left to right, top to bottom). When you are confident of being able to do it in order, it is time to try recalling them at random. When you have completed the test with the cards I have given you, work with arrangements of your own.
Try one (or all) of the methods described opposite to memorize the cards. Now, cover the page and test yourself.
1 Which card is in the top right-hand corner?
2 Which card is at the bottom of the middle column?
3 What is to the right of the 4 of Hearts?
4 What is below the Jack of Clubs?
5 What comes below the 10 of Clubs?
6 Is the 3 of Spades on the diagram?
7 What comes two places above the 4 of Hearts?
8 Which two cards flank the 9 of Hearts?
9 What is at the top of the column that has the 3 of Diamonds at the bottom?
10 What is at the extreme right of the row that has the Jack of Clubs on the left?
11 What comes below the King of Spades?
12 Which column is headed by the Ace of Hearts?
13 Where is the Queen of Diamonds?
14 Where is the Ace of Clubs?
15 What is at the bottom of the column headed by the 2 of Clubs?
How to do it
Don’t just rely on the pictures in the book, but get out your own cards and handle them as you memorize. Touching the cards is a very important part of the process.
If you have a good visual memory (and many people don’t), you could try to visualize the cards laid out on an imaginary table in your head. Alternatively, it might be more fun, and more effective, to visualize the cards as people. Instead of thinking ‘King of Hearts’ why not think of someone you know dressed as a king and wearing a heart badge? Queen of Hearts - why not J-Lo? For the knaves, you can supply politicians of your choice. Aces could be represented by sports stars, and so on. Use your imagination and have fun.
If you are a Listener, you should recite the names of the cards to yourself. Remember that singsong rhythm that you used to chant at school? Well, that is just the one you need - something nice and catchy that will stick in the memory.
I’m sorry, I’ve forgotten your name
TIME: 5 minutes LEVEL: Easy
It’s embarrassing to forget people’s names because it implies that they aren’t important to you. Opposite you’ll find a group of twelve faces and your task for today is to remember them. We have deliberately not put names under the faces because, in real life, how often does that happen? Only at conferences where people wear badges. The people are (from left to right and top to bottom):
Row 1 |
Wendy Dear, Tom Armstrong, April McDonald |
Row 2 |
Carmen Garcia, Jim Russell, Kelly Drummond |
Row 3 |
Allen Levi, Janie Wilderspin, Frank Wright |
Row 4 |
Ivana Lloyd, Miles Hill, Hayley Kellow |
Instructions
Start with the faces. Most people have something about their features that allows you to give them a nickname. The name can be as funny as you like (the funnier the better, in fact). Don’t worry about being cruel - it’s your own private name and you needn’t confide it to anyone else. Once you know that, for example, Jim Russell has a rather prominent nose, you can call him Beaky and you’ll always remember him like that.
Now, to remember the names. You only need one memorable feature in each name. For example, once you remember that Mr Armstrong has a Strong Arm, you’ll easily attach the name Tom to the memory. Wendy Dear can be transformed into the more affectionate Dear Wendy. April McDonald? How about visualizing eating a burger on a showery day? Carmen is an easy name to remember because of the opera (just think about toreadors). Is Kelly Drummond a drummer? Can Allen (think of Woody) Levitate? Is Janie wild and in a spin? Frank Wright, of course reminds you of Frank Lloyd Wright (and the Paul Simon song). Ivana is, of course, terrible and Miles Hill lives at the top of a very long rise. As for Hayley Kellow; she’s no problem. I have a friend called Kellow and people always either say, ‘Hello, Kellow’ or they call her ‘Cornflake’ (after Kellogg’s cornflakes).
Remember this!
Is this all silly and immature? Excellent! The sillier and more childish you can be, the more likely you are to remember.
SHORT-TERM MEMORY TASK
Dates
TIME: 30 minutes LEVEL: Medium
At one time, learning history was all about dates. Nowadays that is thought unnecessary (and so kids know what happened and maybe even why it happened, but don’t have the slightest idea when). If you just want to learn the years in which things happened, one way to do it is to regard the dates as times from a 24-hour clock. Then, for example, the signing of Magna Carta can be remembered as 12.15 p.m. (just in time for lunch!).
Here are 30 dates to memorize (you can, of course, choose your own):
1895: |
Juan Peron (President of Argentina 1946-55) born. |
1941: |
Jesse Jackson, American civic leader and clergyman, born. |
1949: |
Sigourney Weaver, American actress, born. |
1787: |
William Herschel discovers that the planet Uranus has moons. |
1831: |
HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin on board, sets sail on its world voyage. |
1927: |
Leon Trotsky expelled from the Communist Party. |
1994: |
Nelson Mandela sworn in as the President of South Africa. |
1958: |
Hawaii becomes the 50th state of the United States of America. |
1950: |
Edgar Rice Burroughs, the American novelist, author of the Tarzan books, dies. |
1608: |
Quebec, Canada founded by Samuel Champlain. |
1863: |
Battle of Gettysburg, during the American Civil War, ends. |
1928: |
First colour TV transmission, made by John Logie Baird. |
1833: |
Alfred Nobel, Swedish inventor of dynamite, born. |
1908: |
First Model T Ford produced in Detroit. |
1949: |
The People’s Republic of China created. |
1971: |
Disneyworld opens in Orlando, Florida. |
1920: |
Panama Canal opened by the President of America, Woodrow Wilson. |
1823: |
The waterproof material for raincoats patented by Charles Macintosh. |
1944: |
Iceland becomes an independent republic. |
1946: |
War crime trial of Emperor Hirohito of Japan begins. |
1967: |
China explodes its first H-bomb. |
1792: |
France becomes a republic, abolishing its monarchy. |
1915: |
Stonehenge sold at auction for £6,600. |
1917: |
Latvia proclaims independence. |
1622: |
Papal Chancery adopts January as beginning of the year. |
1660: |
Englishman Samuel Pepys begins his famous diary. |
1863: |
Emancipation Proclamation (ending slavery) issued by General Abraham Lincoln. |
1939: |
General Franco conquers Barcelona. |
1945: |
Soviet forces reach Auschwitz concentration camp. |
1849: |
Safety pin patented in USA. |
Instructions
Sort all the events into chronological order. Why didn’t I do it for you? Because sorting them out for yourself is the start of the learning process. Next, draw a timeline to scale about 7 cm (3 inches), for each hundred years) and mark the dates on it. When you’ve done it once, put it to one side and, on a clean sheet of paper, try redrawing it from memory. As you draw your timeline, read it out to yourself.
Some people like to remember numbers by their shapes (so 1 is a stick, 0 is a ball, 8 is a fat lady, 2 is a duck, and so on). Then you make up stories that put the shapes together. I never have the patience for this, but if it works for you don’t let me stand in your way.
Close your eyes and imagine that you are carving your timeline in stone (you can even act out hammering a chisel into stone if it helps).
As always, learn the list a bit at a time and keep reviewing it.
Now try this test
1 When did the Battle of Gettysburg end?
2 When was the first Model T Ford produced?
3 When did Franco conquer Barcelona?
4 When was the first colour TV transmission?
5 When did Hawaii become the 50th state of the USA?
6 When did HMS Beagle set sail?
7 When did China explode its first H-bomb?
8 When did Samuel Pepys start to write his diary?
9 What major event occurred in South Africa in 1994?
10 When did Charles Macintosh patent his waterproof raincoat material?
11 When did Latvia become independent?
12 When did the Soviets liberate Auschwitz?
13 What happened in Barcelona in 1939?
14 When was Trotsky expelled from the Communist Party?
15 When was Stonehenge sold at auction and how much did it fetch?
LONG-TERM MEMORY TASK
Half a pound of tuppenny rice
TIME: 10 minutes LEVEL: Easy
Ever got to the supermarket and found that you’ve forgotten your shopping list? Aaaaagh! Few things are more frustrating. If your house is like ours, one person makes the shopping list and everyone else yells out the things that they want, so you end up with a mass of items in no particular order. It is helpful to convert this list into a form that can be remembered more easily, then if you forget your list, it should not pose such a problem!
Instructions
In our house, my wife has a clever trick. She always takes the same route around the supermarket. This forms a little ritual and, as we have seen elsewhere, ritual is an excellent memory aid. So, let’s write down all the items in a way that makes some sort of logistical sense:
Cheese and desserts are near to each other.
Mushrooms, bell peppers, lettuce, fresh herbs are near the entrance.
Ginger is close to peaches.
Salami, chicken and fish aren’t far apart.
Chilli powder is opposite the cans of spaghetti and noodles.
Eggs are on their own.
Crackers are just before pastries and loaves, which are together.
Nachos and almonds can be found close together.
Chocolate is on its own.
Razors are near the checkout.
Draw your own plan of the supermarket (it needn’t be all that accurate), write the names of the items on slips of paper and put them face down in the right places. Now practise picking them up and naming the items before you turn the slips over. After a few attempts, you should start to get it right.
The beauty of this system is that once you have the basic scheme in your mind, you can easily make a few mental notes about additions and deletions. A regular route also helps ensure that you do not miss items that form a standard part of your shopping requirements.
Signs of the zodiac
TIME: 15 minutes LEVEL: Medium
You can either learn the signs of the zodiac by date (which gives you a nice framework into which they fit and makes learning easier), or you can split them into elements, symbols or seasons as shown here.
Elements
FIRE |
AIR |
Aries Leo Sagittarius |
Gemini Libra Aquarius |
EARTH |
WATER |
Taurus Virgo Capricorn |
Cancer Scorpio Pisces |
Instructions
Each sign has a symbol that is traditionally associated with it. Use the symbols shown opposite as visual clues to help you remember each sign. To give you another visual clue, the symbols are depicted on a diagram showing the year as a circle, with each of the four seasons in a different colour. This should help you to fix the various symbols firmly in your memory.
Dates
Aries |
March 21 - April 20 |
Taurus |
April 21 - May 21 |
Gemini |
May 22 - June 21 |
Cancer |
June 22 - July 23 |
Leo |
July 24 - August 23 |
Virgo |
August 24 - September 23 |
Libra |
September 24 - October 23 |
Scorpio |
October 24 - November 22 |
Sagittarius |
November 23 - December 22 |
Capricorn |
December 23 - January 20 |
Aquarius |
January 21 - February 19 |
Pisces |
February 20 - March 20 |
Symbols
Aries |
|
Taurus |
|
Gemini |
|
Cancer |
|
Leo |
|
Virgo |
|
Libra |
|
Scorpio |
|
Sagittarius |
|
Capricorn |
|
Aquarius |
|
Pisces |
|
Seasons
VISUAL MEMORY TASK
Animal farm
TIME: 10 minutes LEVEL: Medium
This is an exercise in visual memory. The picture below contains thirty animals and your job is to remember all of them. How? As usual, you must attack the problem from all angles at once.
Instructions
1 Work your way across the pictures from left to right and top to bottom.
2 Read out loud the names of the animals as you go.
3 Tap the picture of each animal as you name it.
4 Divide up the pictures into horizontal rows.
5 Frequently close your eyes and try to visualize the whole set of pictures.
6 If you want, you can make up a song to help you remember the animals in whichever order you prefer.
7 Rest for a while and then return to your memorization.
8 As with all these exercises, it is accuracy rather than speed that counts.
When you have got all the pictures fixed in your mind, cover them with a piece of paper and try to answer the following questions:
1 Which animal is to the right of the giraffe?
2 How many animals start with the letter ‘C’?
3 Which animals surround the scorpion?
4 How many mammals are there on the bottom row?
5 Which animal is to the left of the owl?
6 Name all the animals that start with the letter ‘L’.
7 Name all the animals on the right hand edge of the picture from top to bottom.
8 Which animal is in the bottom left hand corner?
9 How many animals start with the letter ‘M’?
10 Which are the three largest animals?
Remember this!
The resting is as important as the memorization. While you rest, your mind continues to work on your task at a subconscious level.
VISUAL MEMORY TASK
Learn the kings and queens of England
TIME: 1 hour LEVEL: Hard
On the right you’ll find the names of all the kings and queens of England since William the Conqueror. Your task is to learn them all in order. The dates of their reigns are given, but learning those is an optional extra. This is quite a major task, but there are a few things that will help you. First, there is a mnemonic that goes like this:
Willie, Willie, Harry, Steve, Harry, Dick, John, Harry Three, Edward One, Two and Three, Dick Two, Henry Four, Five, Six, then who? Edward Four, Five, Dick the Bad, Harrys twain and Ned, the lad. Mary, Lizzie, James the Vain, Charlie, Charlie, James again. William and Mary, Anne O’Gloria, Four Georges, William and Victoria. Edward Seven, Georgie Five, Edward, George and Liz (alive)
This might not make much sense right now, but when you have studied the list for a while it will definitely prove helpful.
If you want to spend more time on this task, go to your local library and find pictures of these kings and queens.
Copy the images and put their names underneath to help you remember them.
I’ve also added a few comments that might stick in your memory. Why are we doing this? Well, because these days it’s information that most people lack and it will train your memory to categorize and store quite detailed information.
Instructions
As always, I want you to attack from all angles.
1 Use the mnemonic.
2 If you have found pictures, look at them and make sure you touch them as you say the names.
3 Split the task into bits by learning the Normans, then the Plantagenets, then the Tudors, and so on.
4 Pick out kings and queens that you know about (everyone remembers Richard the Lionheart, Crookback Dick, Henry V and Henry VIII, for example), and use them as markers. You can then start filling in the gaps between them.
5 Try to build up a mental portrait gallery (visualize it in a castle if that helps). Stroll around your virtual gallery and make sure you have no blank spots on the walls.
6 Test yourself (or get someone else to test you) again and again.
NORMANS |
|
William I |
1066-1087 |
William II |
1087-1100 |
Henry I |
1100-1135 |
Stephen I |
1135-1154 |
PLANTAGENETS |
|
Henry II |
1154-1189 |
Richard I |
1189-1199 |
John |
1199-1216 |
Henry III |
1216-1272 |
Edward I |
1272-1307 |
Edward II |
1307-1327 |
Edward III |
1327-1377 |
Richard II |
1377-1399 |
HOUSE OF LANCASTER |
|
Henry IV |
1399-1413 |
Henry V |
1413-1422 |
Henry VI |
1422-1461 |
HOUSE OF YORK |
|
Edward IV |
1461-1483 |
Edward V |
1483 |
Richard III |
1483-1485 |
HOUSE OF TUDOR |
|
Henry VII |
1485-1509 |
Henry VIII |
1509-1547 |
Edward VI |
1547-1553 |
Mary I |
1553-1558 (Bloody Mary) |
Elizabeth I |
1558-1603 (Good Queen Bess) |
HOUSE OF STUART |
|
James I |
1603-1625 |
Charles I |
1625-1649 |
COMMONWEALTH |
|
Oliver Cromwell |
1649-1660 |
HOUSE OF STUART (continued) |
|
Charles II |
1660-1685 |
James II |
1685-1688 |
William III and Mary II |
1689-1694 |
Anne |
1702-1714 |
HOUSE OF HANOVER |
|
George I |
1714-1727 |
George II |
1727-1760 |
George III |
1760-1820 |
George IV |
1820-1830 |
William IV |
1830-1837 |
Victoria |
1837-1901 |
Edward VII |
1901-1910 |
George V |
1910-1936 |
Edward VIII |
1936 |
George VI |
1936-1952 |
Elizabeth II |
1952- |
SHORT-TERM MEMORY TASK
Café Olé!
TIME: 5 minutes LEVEL: Hard
You have a part-time job waiting tables at the Café Olé. You have to learn to take customers’ orders accurately without forgetting them. This is a tough job, but with a little practice, you’ll get the hang of it. There are five tables in your section. Look at the picture to learn what the customers have ordered.
Instructions
1 Take the tables in an order that suits you and also put the customers into some sort of order (such as clockwise round the table, always starting in the same place).
2 Visualize a menu in your head and check off each person’s choice on it.
3 Keep sweets, savouries and drinks separate in your mind.
4 Note carefully the physical appearance and dress of your customers.
5 Give people nicknames that help you to remember them.
6 As you take the orders, visualize what each person’s place setting will look like when their food arrives.
7 In other exercises I have said, ‘Take your time, accuracy is more important than speed.’ But not this time. Who wants a slow but accurate waiter or waitress? So you must practise thinking fast and remembering orders that you have heard only once.
Now cover the illustration and try answering these questions:
1 What did the boy with the Mohican order?
2 Who had the all-day English breakfast?
3 What did the man with the beard want?
4 Which was the only table to order ice cream?
5 Who ate the fruit cake?
6 What did the girl with brown hair in the stripy green sweatshirt order?
7 Who had coffee and a scone?
8 What sort of pizza did the man with red hair want?
9 Who ordered fried chicken?
10 Who wanted fruit salad?
11 What did the guide dog have?
12 Did the woman want whipped cream with her cherry pie?
13 What did the girl with spiky hair want on her toast?
14 What did the boy want on his banana split?
15 What flavours of ice cream did the girl with blonde plaits want?
Retest: Once you can do this exercise you could make up your own and carry on practising until you get really good at it.
LONG-TERM MEMORY TASK
Ticket to ride
TIME: 10 minutes LEVEL: Hard
Here is a railway station departure board (showing purely imaginary places) and your job is to learn it well enough to answer travellers’ questions.
Instructions
What makes this a tough test is that it is hard to get to grips with so much information. What to do? This is a prime candidate for a bit of rhythm. Try reading the names to yourself in a childish, singsong voice or, if you prefer, set them to a tune of your choice.
Tap out the rhythm as you sing.
Visualize the board in your mind.
Don’t expect to remember everything at once. Form a basic but imperfect memory first, and then add bits to it until you have the whole thing crystal clear in your mind.
When you feel confident that you have memorized it all, cover up the picture and try to answer these questions:
1 Which platform would you go to for the Dudstead train?
2 What time does the Harling train leave Platform 6?
3 When is the Fairfield train due to reach its destination?
4 Which train would you take to reach Goodhope?
5 Is Cranmere on the Gromby line?
6 Which station comes after Fen Grundy?
7 Which station is between Little Buckham and Grantling?
8 Which station comes after Forfar?
9 Does the Dudstead train call at Dry Hilton?
10 Does the Dudstead train reach its destination before or after the Gromby train?
11 Which station comes after Lower Morton?
12 What time does the Thorpe train arrive?
13 Which train is delayed?
14 Which train is cancelled?
15 Which is the first stop on the Thorpe line?
LONG-TERM MEMORY TASK
Presidents of the USA
TIME: 1 hour LEVEL: Hard
Your task is to learn all the presidents of the USA, from George Washington to the present day. I have seen a number of ways recommended. One is to turn the names into a story For example, a woman washing-a-tonne (a big barrel) is watched by Adams (two men wearing nothing but fig leaves), and Jeff (who has his son with him). This does nothing for me at all and it won’t work.
Another method is similar, but without the story. It involves making some amusing association with each name, thus Taylor becomes a guy stitching pants, and Lincoln drives a large automobile, and Garfield is remembered for that cat ... I don’t think that’s going to work either.
Instructions
Commit these American leaders to memory - there are 44 to learn, so be methodical. Let’s go back to the old multiple attack method.
Look at the pictures.
Touch each picture as you say the name.
Learn the names in blocks of a few at a time.
Recite the names in some sort of rhythm. Divide the names into blocks that give you a good rhythm. The first four (Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison) give a really excellent rhythm but some of the others are a bit trickier.
Depending on your age, you should find some of the later ones easy.
TACTILE MEMORY TASK
Learning Braille
TIME: 1 hour LEVEL: Hard
Only the blind have any practical use for Braille, but don’t let that put you off this exercise because it is a particularly good way of practising tactile memory. The sad truth is that most of us only use this type of memory by accident. There are some exceptions - typists, motor mechanics and surgeons spring to mind - but often this valuable ability is greatly underused.
Instructions
1 Start with the diagram opposite and try to familiarize yourself with the Braille alphabet. Just because Braille was intended to aid the blind does not mean that sighted people should fail to use all their faculties to learn it.
2 Next, make some tiles out of thin card and use glue to make the little bumps that you will learn to feel with your fingertips. Modelling glue is good for this as it will dry in little heaps without much encouragement.
3 Now you need to practise again and again until you have learnt all the letters. Start by laying them out in alphabetical order and keep handling them until you feel confident about identifying them with your eyes closed.
4 Next, try to identify random letters, again, of course, without looking.
5 When you can do this with confidence, get someone to make up words and then sentences for you to read.
You will find that with practice, you get used to using this sort of memory. It comes as a surprise to some people that tactile memory not only resides in their fingertips but in all parts of the body. If you have ever tried golf, diving, gymnastics, tai chi, or any other physical activity you will know that your body has the very useful capacity to remember how it is supposed to behave.
Braille basics
The six dots of the Braille cell are arranged and numbered like this. |
The capital sign, (dot 6), placed before a letter, makes a capital letter. |
The number sign (dots 3, 4, 5, 6) placed before the characters a through j, makes the numbers 1 through O. For example, ‘a’ preceded by the number sign is ‘1’, ‘b’ is ‘2’, and so on. |
LONG-TERM MEMORY TASK
Wine bottles and their names
TIME: 1 hour LEVEL: Medium
A standard bottle of wine contains 0.75 litres of liquid, but there are many variations on this basic size. Almost everyone has heard of a magnum of champagne, but did you know just how many other names there are for large bottles? No? Well, now you can learn them all. Why? There is no pressing reason why you should except that the words are fun and, who knows, one day you may be rich enough to afford a Melchior of champagne, and wouldn’t it be just be your luck if you didn’t know what to ask for?
The chart gives the names of 14 different bottle sizes, followed by the number of standard 0.75 litre bottles each contains, according to whether it is champagne, Bordeaux or Burgundy.
The method
As always, it is worth dividing the task up into bite-sized chunks. There are 14 names, so it would make sense to learn the names in threes, with an odd two at the end.
Start by getting all the names off pat and in the right order. A mnemonic for each section might help. You could start with something like, ‘Picking champagne for dinner?’ I’ll leave the rest up to you. You’ll remember one you made yourself much better than a tailor-made one of mine.
Learning the sizes is much harder - which is why we have produced an illustrated chart that you can learn to visualize in your mind’s eye.
It helps that the sizes are in ascending order which at least gives you a context in which to learn them.
Finally, there are some bottles that simply don’t exist (for example, there is no Picolo of anything except champagne). These are marked with a red dot on the table.
Now try these questions:
1 What do you call a bottle of champagne?
2 What is the smallest bottle of Bordeaux called?
3 What is the very largest bottle size?
4 How many normal bottles make a Methuselah?
5 What do 16 normal bottles make?
6 What size is a Magnum?
7 What is an Imperial?
8 How many bottles make a Rehoboam?
9 Can you have a Nebuchadnezzar of champagne?
10 What is a Filette?
NAME |
CHAMPAGNE |
BORDEAUX |
BURGUNDY |
Picolo |
¼ |
✵ |
✵ |
Chopine |
✵ |
⅓ |
✵ |
Filette/Demi |
½ |
½ |
½ |
Magnum |
2 |
2 |
2 |
Marie Jeanne |
✵ |
3 |
✵ |
Double Magnum |
✵ |
4 |
✵ |
Jeroboam |
4 |
6 |
4 |
Rehoboam |
6 |
✵ |
6 |
Imperial |
✵ |
8 |
✵ |
Methuselah |
8 |
✵ |
8 |
Methuselah |
12 |
✵ |
12 |
Balthazar |
16 |
16 |
16 |
Nebuchadnezzar |
20 |
20 |
20 |
Melchior |
24 |
24 |
24 |
LONG-TERM MEMORY TASK
Learn the Beaufort Scale
TIME: 1 hour LEVEL: Hard
The Beaufort Scale describes wind speed. It may not form part of your everyday conversation, but it has its uses, even for those of us who never go to sea and only concern ourselves with the weather when wondering whether or not to take a brolly when we go out.
Instructions
The scale is always quoted in the form Force 1, Force 2, and so on, so start by learning each force with its brief description (such as Force 1, calm).
When you have memorized these, you can add in the more detailed descriptions. Picture the scene to bring each force vividly to mind.
Finally, you can add in the actual wind speeds. Only learn the speed in knots if you are really keen (or go sailing).
Practise in real situations. Make a point of estimating the wind speed wherever you go (you should be able to check your estimates on a weather map afterwards).
Use your real-life experiences to reinforce your memorization. After a while, you should be able to tell the force of the wind just by the way it feels and sounds, and the effect it has on the environment.
LONG-TERM MEMORY TASK
Roman numerals
TIME: 20 minutes LEVEL: Easy
We all know some Roman numerals, but many of us get stuck on numbers larger than ten. Here is a complete list for you to learn. When you feel confident that you know the whole lot, you can try the test below.
Instructions
Roman numerals are very easy once you have the trick of them. Within each number, anything to the left of the largest numeral is subtracted from it, for example: IV is actually 5-1 = 4. CM is 1000-100 = 900. Anything to the right of the largest numeral is added to it, for example LV = 50 + 5 = 55. XV = 10 + 5 = 15. Once you have learned these basic principles, you only have to remember a few special letters - C, D, L and M. If you want to be able to work with huge numbers, you have to learn that a numeral with an overscore is multiplied by 1000. Thus V, which is normally 5, is 5000 if it is overscored. Isn’t that simple?
1 |
I |
2 |
II |
3 |
III |
4 |
IV |
5 |
V |
6 |
VI |
7 |
VII |
8 |
VIII |
9 |
DC |
10 |
X |
20 |
XX |
30 |
XXX |
40 |
XL |
50 |
L |
60 |
LX |
70 |
LXX |
80 |
LXXX |
90 |
XC |
100 |
C |
200 |
CC |
400 |
CD |
500 |
D |
600 |
DC |
700 |
DCC |
800 |
DCCC |
900 |
CM |
1000 |
M |
5000 |
V |
10000 |
X |
50000 |
L |
100000 |
C |
500000 |
D |
1000000 |
M |
Now try to convert these numbers into Roman numerals:
15 |
35 |
239 |
426 |
5244 |
7890 |
45859 |
Check your answers.
VISUAL MEMORY TASK
Memorizing unusual capital cities
TIME: 1 hour LEVEL: Hard
I once had a job with a firm that published atlases, and it was then that I discovered just how ignorant many people (including myself) are about geography. They might well know the capitals of places such as the US, France and Germany, but if you ask them to find anywhere a little more exotic, they fall down in a heap. This is therefore a useful exercise in that it will not only improve your powers of memory, but also increase your store of geographical knowledge. We have deliberately chosen 34 of the lesser-known capitals for you to memorize. Turn to view the map of the world.
Instructions
1 Learn one area of the world at a time.
2 Use the map to help you learn not only the countries and their capitals, but also where the countries are in relation to the rest of the world. The better your visual memory is, the easier you will find this task.
3 Don’t make the mistake of merely learning the countries and capitals as lists of words. Putting them all in their correct geographical context will increase their value ten-fold.
4 Once you have learned these capitals you can extend your geographical knowledge. Why not add other countries and, as well as capitals, add other major cities, rivers, mountains, in fact anything that takes your fancy. You’ll find that creating your own mental world map can be fun and is actually useful.
Country |
Capital City |
1 Angola |
Luanda |
2 Bangladesh |
Dhaka |
3 Barbados |
Bridgetown |
4 Burkina Faso |
Ouagadougou |
5 Costa Rica |
San Jose |
6 Dominica Ecuador |
Roseau |
7 Ecuador |
Quito |
8 Equatorial Guinea |
Malabo |
9 Eritrea |
Asmara |
10 Gabon |
Libreville |
11 Gambia |
Banjul |
12 Georgia |
Tbilisi |
13 Grenada |
St George’s |
14 Guinea |
Conakry |
15 Guyana |
Georgetown |
16 Haiti |
Port-au-Prince |
17 Honduras |
Tegucigalpa |
18 Indonesia |
Jakarta |
19 Jamaica |
Kingston |
20 Laos |
Vientiane |
21 Liberia |
Monrovia |
22 Madagascar |
Antananarivo |
23 Mali |
Bamako |
24 Mongolia |
Ulaanbaatar |
25 Mauritius |
Port Louis |
26 Morocco |
Rabat |
27 Oman |
Muscat |
28 Paraguay |
Asuncion |
29 Qatar |
Doha |
30 Seychelles |
Victoria |
31 Somalia |
Mogadishu |
32 Surinam |
Paramaribo |
33 Taiwan |
Taipei |
34 Uzbekistan |
Tashkent |
VISUAL MEMORY TASK
Memorizing cloud types
TIME: 20 minutes LEVEL: Medium
The attraction of this exercise is that it is not only of some practical use (because it helps you to predict the weather with some accuracy), but it also involves using several types of memory. What’s more, you can practise this exercise every day and as often as you want by doing no more than looking out of the window.
Instructions
First, learn what the basic words mean:
Once you have the meanings in mind, it is much easier to relate the words to the pictures.
Remember that the altitudes work from the highest to the lowest and go in bands (for example, the first three are all exactly the same, which makes them easy to remember).
Use the picture and say the name as you touch each cloud type.
Once you know them in the highest-to-lowest order, try to learn them out of order as well.
Practise on real clouds whenever you go out.
Cumulus |
= |
heap |
Stratus |
= |
layer |
Cirrus |
= |
curl |
Nimbus |
= |
rain |
REF |
CLOUD NAME |
CLOUD HEIGHT |
DESCRIPTION |
High clouds |
|||
Cirrus |
5000-13700m |
High, detached, white |
|
Cirrocumulus |
5000-13700m |
‘Mackerel sky’ - grains or ripples of white cloud in regular patterns. |
|
Cirrostratus |
5000-13700m |
Sheets of cloud covering large areas of the sky, sometimes producing a halo effect. |
|
Middle clouds |
|||
Altocumulus |
2000-7000m |
Patches and sheets of rounded clouds separate or merged. |
|
Altostratus |
2000-7000m |
Sheets of grey-blue cloud, often obscuring sun and moon. |
|
Low clouds |
|||
Stratocumulus |
460-2000m |
Layers of white cloud with grey areas; often bringing light rain or snow. |
|
Stratus |
Surface-460m |
Uniform low grey cloud; outline of sun and moon visible where cloud is thin. |
|
Nimbostratus |
900-3000m |
Associated with rain and snow, often covering most of the sky - dark and heavy. |
|
Clouds of vertical development |
|||
Cumulus |
460-2000m |
Heaped, cauliflower shape; brilliant white with dark base. |
|
Cumulonimbus |
460-2000m |
Heavy, dense cloud with huge towers and shadows at base. |
PROCEDURAL MEMORY TASK
Learn semaphore
TIME: 1 hour LEVEL: Hard
The chances of semaphore being of practical use to you are, I admit, slight. However, that is not the point. This exercise is a wonderful example of learning by doing. It gives you a chance to combine the intellectual process of learning with the use of what might be called body memory. Your body is excellent at remembering things, so good, in fact, that much of the time you are quite unaware of what it is doing. Take riding a bike, for example. Once you have the knack of it, you never have to think about balance again, because your muscles remember how it’s done. You only have to consciously take over at moments when things go badly wrong and a major correction is called for.
Of course, strictly speaking, the muscles are not themselves repositories of memory. But you do become very good at interpreting messages from your body and responding to them automatically. Learning semaphore will give you a chance to hone that skill a little further. Note that the figures in the diagrams opposite are facing you.
Instructions
1 Start by going through the letters in strict alphabetical order, saying the name of each letter out loud as you make the appropriate signal.
2 As always, break your task into chunks. Learn only a few letters at a time and, once you are sure of them, learn a few more.
3 Perfect your skill by reproducing the letters in a random order. If possible, get someone to hold the book and call out letters at random to which you must respond with the right signals.
4 Bear in mind that, as with all coded signals, context gives you some good clues. With practice, you won’t have to stumble along, painstakingly translating one word at a time, but will be able to predict what comes next.
5 Experienced signallers use abbreviated forms, much like people sending text messages on their mobile phones. So, if you ever have to use semaphore for real, make sure you abbreviate.
Test yourself by translating the follow semaphore messages:
Check your answers.
Retest: To test yourself further, come back to the task in a week’s time or choose your own messages to translate.
VISUAL MEMORY TASK
Learn Morse code
TIME: 30 minutes LEVEL: Easy
You may think that you’ll never need to know Morse code, but it is easy to learn and can be surprisingly useful. Younger readers might like to use it as a ‘secret’ code. It is a great way of sharpening your ‘doing’ memory skills.
Instructions
1 First, look at the code and work through it from A-Z (plus 0-9 and the punctuation marks).
2 As you go through, say it out loud (traditionally you say ‘dah’ for a dash and ‘dit’ for a dot).
3 As you say the code, also tap it out with a pencil on your desk or table. A heavy tap represents a dash and a light one is a dot.
4 Once you can do the whole alphabet in the correct order, you have to be able to do it out of order. Get a friend to test you.
5 You have finished this task when you can produce any letter, numeral or punctuation mark on request.
If you have become hooked on Morse you need to work at increasing your speed, and there are Morse code websites that will help you do this.
Tap out the following messages from memory
This is your captain speaking.
The ship is listing hard to starboard.
We appear to be sinking fast.
Do you want us to man the lifeboats?
Land has been sighted on the port side.
How much food and water remain?
Report your position. How many survivors are there?
We will send our medical officer to care for your wounded.
When we reach port there will have to be an enquiry.
There is a report of an explosion aboard your ship.
Here is the code
A . -
B - …
C - . - .
D - . .
E .
F . . - .
G - - .
H … .
I . .
J . - - -
K - . -
L . - . .
M - -
N - .
O - - -
P .- -.
Q - - . -
R . - .
S …
T -
U . . -
V … -
W . - -
X - . . -
Y - . - -
Z - - . .
0 - - - - -
1 . - - -
2 . . - -
3 … - -
4 … . -
5 … . .
6 - … .
7 - - …
8 - - - . .
9 - - - - .
Full stop . - . - . -
Comma - - . . - -
Query . . - - . .
VISUAL MEMORY TASK
Memorize something really confusing
TIME: 30 minutes LEVEL: Hard
The table below is a particular form of mental torment introduced to me by my daughter, Gina. It contains the names of a number of colours and things associated with colours. However, they have been coloured incorrectly - except for a few which, to make things more confusing, are in the correct colours. Trying to memorize this information is difficult simply because there is a voice at the back of your mind constantly saying, ‘This does not compute!’ The trick is to be able to learn what is actually in front of you, rather than what you think should be there.
Instructions
1 The way to learn all this is to start with the words and forget for a moment about the colours. Simply learn the words in columns from left to right. Number the columns 1-3 and the rows 1-10.
2 If you want, you can create a mnemonic from the initial letters in each column.
3 Now, close your eyes and start to visualize the colours. Try to see a picture of each column in your mind’s eye. If it helps, you can say to yourself, RED is green, GREEN is black, VIOLET is blue, or you can create a mnemonic for the initial letters of the colours as well.
4 Whichever way you do it, this is a tough test. When you think you have the whole table memorized, cover the page and try the questions, right. They start out simple but get much tougher as they go along.
Colour test
1 What colour is BUTTER?
2 What colour is BANANA?
3 Which column (numbering from the left) is SEA in?
4 What is to the left of COAL and what colour is it?
5 What comes below APPLE?
6 What is to the right of GREY?
7 What colour is the word between TAN and PURPLE?
8 What is two places below YELLOW?
9 What is one place above, and one place to the right, of VIOLET?
10 How many words are in the correct colours?
11 Name all the words printed on green.
12 Name the five words printed on black.
13 Which is the lower of the two words printed in bright blue?
14 What are the two bright blue words and where are they?
15 Which word printed in dark blue do you associate with green?
LONG-TERM MEMORY TASK
Comprehension
TIME: 10 minutes LEVEL: Medium
You might have had to do something like this when you were at school. But this one is a real toughie. What follows is a short passage containing quite a lot of detail. Your task is to read it thoroughly once and then answer the questions.
Every Friday night, Jeff meets up with his friends, Pete, Laura, Sue, Graham, Mark, Sinead and Sophie. Sometimes they go out for dinner and they prefer Italian, though Laura can’t eat pasta and Mark dislikes pepperoni. Occasionally they go for a curry, and their favourite place is the Maharajah just near the cinema in the Market Place. They used to go to the Taj Mahal but stopped because Graham found some undercooked chicken in his vindaloo. Pete and Laura got engaged last Christmas. Jeff used to go out with Laura but they split up a year ago. He’d like to go out with Sinead but she only has eyes for Mark. Sue had a bit of a thing with Graham for a while but now they’ve split up and she keeps talking about moving back to Wales to be near her elderly parents. Laura and Sue are lawyers and Sophie works in a bank. Sinead is a photographer and is in partnership with Jeff.
Instructions
There is no easy way to learn all this. Read the piece slowly and carefully. Go over each sentence a number of times and make sure you understand it. One way to fix everything in your memory would be to list all the characters and write down what you know about each. You could also draw arrows to show who is emotionally linked to whom. If you can’t get more than a few questions right, go back to the beginning and give yourself another chance.
Now answer these questions:
1 Who did Sue go out with for a while?
2 Who are the photographers?
3 Who doesn’t like pepperoni?
4 Why did they stop eating at the Taj Mahal?
5 Which is their favourite Indian restaurant?
6 Who can’t eat pasta?
7 Which of the characters is Welsh?
8 Who are the lawyers?
9 Where does Sophie work?
10 Which building is near the Maharajah restaurant?
11 Which night do the friends usually meet up?
12 Who did Jeff go out with?
13 Which part of town is the cinema in?
14 When did Pete and Laura get engaged?
15 Who is Sinead in love with?
VISUAL MEMORY TASK
Memorize a table of symbols
TIME: 20 minutes LEVEL: Hard
What makes this exercise so tough is that many of the symbols are unfamiliar. Some of them you won’t even know by name. Obviously, it is much harder to memorize information that does not make much sense to us. But it can be done.
Instructions
1 Give names to all the symbols you don’t know. Make up something that you find memorable (the sillier the better).
2 Make sure that you can remember all the names you have made up.
3 Spend some time memorizing the grid, first in columns from left to right, and then in rows from top to bottom.
4 Do one column or row at a time and make sure your memorization of that portion is perfect before you go on to the next.
5 If it helps, you can make up a mnemonic for each column and row using the initial letters of the symbols’ names.
6 Try to record a picture of the grid in your mind’s eye. Close your eyes and see the grid in front of you. This will take quite a lot of concentration.
7 Now, produce a set of blank grids (this is easily done on a computer) and try filling in the information you remember. Keep checking back with the diagram and correcting mistakes.
When you feel confident that you know the whole grid by heart, try the test below:
1 Which symbol is at the top of the fourth column from the left?
2 Which symbol is to the right of ≈ ?
3 What comes directly below ?
4 Where in which row (numbering from the top) is the ✓
5 Which symbol is to the left of * ?
6 Write down or draw all the symbols in the middle column.
7 Draw all the symbols on the bottom row.
8 Is ◊ in a higher or lower row than ≠ ?
9 What is at the end of the row that starts with ?
10 What is diagonally below ∞ ?
11 Where is π?
12 What is at the bottom of the column that has at the top?
13 What is three places to the right of ?
14 What comes three places above * ?
15 What comes at the end of the row that starts with ± ?
PROCEDURAL MEMORY
Learning to tie knots
TIME: 20 minutes LEVEL: Medium
This is the ultimate exercise for those who wish to develop their ‘doing’ memory. Tying knots can be a very complicated business and describing the process in words often makes things worse rather than better. Thus this becomes entirely a visual/kinaesthetic exercise in which words play no part. I have chosen some knots that are complicated enough to present a challenge, but simple enough not to require any previous experience.
Instructions
The only way to remember how to tie a knot is with your fingertips. Visual cues will, of course, also play a part but you will mostly just have to feel your way to success. Elsewhere in the book I have pointed out that mere repetition is not a very strong memory glue. The skill of knot-tying is an exception. You will need to practise each knot many times before you get it exactly right.
Retest: Reviewing your knot-tying skills is particularly important if you want to keep them current. This sort of memory evaporates rapidly if not practised regularly.
The knots
Blood bight
True lover’s knot
Surgeon’s knot
Shamrock knot
Jug sling
LONG-TERM MEMORY TASK
Learning long words
TIME: 20 minutes LEVEL: Hard
If you were a certain type of kid at school you might have whiled away some time learning how to spell ‘antidisestablishmentarianism’ and other similarly interesting but useless words. In this exercise you will memorize a number of words that are equally fascinating and, let’s face it, equally useless. So why bother? Just because learning this sort of complex information is a good way of building up brain muscle.
Instructions
Long words are absolutely ideal for the ‘divide and conquer’ method. Most of them look fearsome when spelled out in full, but are actually made up of familiar components or, at least, are composed of sounds that are easy to remember.
Rehearsing long words in quiet moments (on boring journeys, for example) is an easy way to keep your new memory skills in good shape.
I have split the words below not into syllables but into chunks that I find easy to remember. Should you find that the splits I have chosen do not suit you, feel free to choose your own. It may help to write the words down as you spell them.
Always spell out loud because the listening process is an important way to help you learn.
Some people like to write words with a fingertip in the palm of their hand. This stimulates their touch memory.
Honorificabilitudinity
Honor / ifi / cabili / tudi / nity
I have made three of the chunks end in ‘i’ to make them more memorable. Meaning = the quality of being honorable.
Dihydroxylphenylalanine
Di / hydroxyl / pheny / lala / nine
Remember to pronounce the first chunk to rhyme with ‘dye’ or you might introduce an ‘e’ by mistake. Those with scientific training might like to keep the third chunk as phenyl because this makes sense to scientists, but I divided it the way I did because I thought that, for most people, ‘lala’ would be more memorable than ‘ala’.
Meaning = dopamine, an animo acid.
Gynotikolobomassophile
Gyno / tiko / lobo /masso /phile
Once you’ve made all but the last chunk end in an ‘o’, this one becomes a piece of cake. Meaning = someone who likes to nibble women’s earlobes.
Hexamethylenetetramine
Hexa / methyl / ene / tetra / mine
This is probably easier if you pronounce ‘ene’ to rhyme with ‘meany’ rather than any. Meaning = a specific organic compound.
Bathysiderodromophobia
Bathy / side / rod / romo / phobia
Again, if you understand the elements of this word you might wish to split it differently (using ‘sidero’ and ‘dromo’, for example). My split is for those to whom the word is just a meaningless jumble.
Meaning = an irrational fear of being underground.
Rhombicosidodecahedron
Rhombi / cosi / dodeca / hedron
The silent ‘h’ in ‘rhombi’ might escape you unless you make a point of pronouncing it to yourself. Meaning = a specific 62-faced geometric solid.
Pseudomonocotyledonous
Pseudo / mono / coty / ledo / nous
This one is really easy, even though it is longer than any you have tried so far. Give thanks, and add quickly to your store of knowledge. Meaning = having two coalescent cotyledons.
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia
Hippo / poto / monstro / sesquip / pedalio / phobia
Again, I have made as many of the chunks as possible end in ‘o’. ‘Hippo’, ‘monstro’ and ‘phobia’ are all elements that should be familiar to you. Meaning = fear of long words.
Hepaticocholangiocholecystenterostomies
Hepati / cocho / langi / ocho / lecy / stent / eros / tomies
Once you can remember how to say this one (which should only take you a couple of minutes) the spelling is a piece of cake.
Meaning = a surgical connection between the gall bladder and the hepatic duct.
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
Pneumono / ultra / micro / scopic / sili / covol / cano / coni / osis
This one is often quoted in lists of long words.
Meaning = a rather nasty lung disease.
Aequeosalinocalcalinosetaceoaluminosocupreovitriolic
Aequeo / salino / calcalino / seta / ceo / alumino / socu / preo / vitriolic
Meaning = a description of the spa waters at Bath, England.
Osseocarnisanguineoviscericartilagninonervomedullary
Osseo / carni / sanguin / eo / visceri / cartil / agnino / nervo / medullary
Meaning = a lung disease.
LONG-TERM MEMORY TASK
Learn the battles of the American Civil War
TIME: 1 hour LEVEL: Hard
This task is a perfect example of the way in which understanding helps memory. It is perfectly possible to learn this list of battles by the old-fashioned rote method. If, however, you take the trouble to learn the story of the war (even if only in outline), the events start to make more sense and become more memorable. For a proper understanding, you should go to a website such as: http:// www.historyplace.com for a complete explanation of who did what to whom and why.
Instructions
I have split up the war into years, so that you can learn it a bit at a time (the source I took the information from presented it in one large slab, which made it almost completely indigestible).
You might like to create a mnemonic for each year of the war using the initials of battle names.
The years are quite easy to remember because there are few of them, but you will have difficulty with the months and days. Practise writing out your own list for each year. Keep writing it over and over again and read what you are writing out loud to yourself.
Read an abbreviated account of the war and make your own summary, so that you can put your information in context. The more you understand the context, the easier it will be to remember the details.
Get someone to test you by asking for battle names and dates at random.
BATTLE |
DATE |
SITE |
1861 |
||
1st Battle of Bull Run |
21 July 1861 |
Manasses, Virginia |
1862 |
||
Fort Henry |
6 February 1862 |
W. Tennessee |
Fort Donelson |
16 February 1862 |
W. Tennessee |
Shiloh |
6-7 April 1862 |
Pittsburgh Landing, W. Tennessee |
Battle of Seven Days |
25 June-1 July 1862 |
Virginia |
2nd Battle of Bull Run |
27-30 August 1862 |
Manassas, Virginia |
Antietam |
17 September 1862 |
Antietam Creek, Marylan |
Fredericksburg |
13 December 1862 |
Fredericksburg, Virginia |
1863 |
||
Chancellorship |
1-4 May 1863 |
Chancellorship, Virginia |
Siege of Vicksburg |
19 May-4 July 1863 |
Vicksburg, Virginia |
Gettysburg |
1-3 July 1863 |
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania |
Chickamauga |
19-20 September 1863 |
Chickamauga, Georgia |
Chattanooga |
23-25 November 1863 |
Chattanooga, Tennessee |
1864 |
||
Battle of the Wilderness |
5-9 May 1864 |
Northern Virginia |
Spotsylvania |
May 1864 |
Spotsylvania, Virginia |
Cold Harbor |
3 June 1864 |
Virginia |
Siege of Petersburg |
20 June 1864-2 April 1865 |
Petersburg, Virginia |
Mobile Bay |
5 August 1864 |
Alabama |
Atlanta |
2 September 1864 |
Georgia |
Nashville |
15-16 December 1864 |
Tennessee |
1865 (Surrenders) |
||
Lee surrenders to Grant |
9 April 1865 |
Appomattox, Virginia |
Johnson surrenders to Sherman |
17 April 1865 |
Raleigh, North Carolina |
LONG-TERM MEMORY TASK
The Periodic Table of the elements
TIME: 2 hours LEVEL: Hard
You will probably take one look at the Periodic Table and think, ‘No way am I learning that!’ But wait just a moment. It really isn’t as hard as you might think and though even scientists mostly rely on a physical chart hanging on the laboratory wall, there is no reason why you shouldn’t commit the whole thing to memory.
Instructions
First, note that the whole structure bears some resemblance to a fort (OK, you have to use a little imagination here). But it is built out of blocks and has numbers across the top and side. Therefore, the first thing you need to do is master this structure.
For the moment, practise drawing just the block without any reference to the symbols for the elements. Remember how many blocks go in each column and where the blanks are. Keep the picture of the whole structure in your mind’s eye as you draw.
Now learn the elements and their symbols. The good news is that many of the names are part of our normal vocabulary.
The next bit of good news is that almost all of the symbols are merely contractions of the full names. So, though you might not be familiar with cobalt, you won’t struggle with the notion that its symbol is Co. All you then have to do is struggle with the exceptions. If you did chemistry at school, even for a few years, you will probably remember some of the exceptions, such as Fe for Iron and Cu for Copper.
Use the numbered columns to help split the table into learnable chunks.
We have included the symbols with their full names beside them. Note that a lot of the columns have only four names in them.
Finally, learn the Lanthanoids and Actinoids. As you can see, they form a block under the main table, so you can either learn them as an add-on to each column or think of them as a separate entity.
VISUAL MEMORY TASK
Learn some basic Chinese characters
TIME: 10 minutes LEVEL: Easy
This may look hard at first sight, but it is actually much simpler than you might think. Westerners seldom give any thought to Chinese writing, or assume that it is made up of random squiggles that must be a nightmare to learn. Not so. Chinese is very logical and has a number of basic building blocks, called radicals, that are not at all hard to learn. Many of the characters are actually simplified pictures, and this helps in remembering them.
Instructions
Look at the characters together with their translations. You’ll find that the explanation written below each character will help fix it in your mind with ease. Within half an hour, you should have a fluent knowledge of twenty basic Chinese characters.